I never intended to write a blog about Jerry Sandusky or Penn State Football. I hated Penn State growing up because I was a Maryland fan. Maryland was my team and I had to sit at Byrd Stadium when Penn State destroyed my Terps 70-7 back in 1993.

As I got older and began to coach high school football, I began to admire what Joe Paterno accomplished at Penn State and respected the program that he built. Jerry Sandusky was also respected amongst football coaches with many articles and and chapters in football coaching books. Sandusky was a football genius in his own right when it came to linebackers and defensive systems.

It was a sad day in November when the world as Penn State knew it, came crashing down. First the Sandusky scandal broke and it appeared that Penn State helped cover up Sandusky’s disgusting crimes. As the hours went by it appeared that Joe Paterno was involved in the cover up or at the very least did not do enough to make sure that Sandusky was stopped from harming and further young boys.

Penn State made the right move in firing Joe Paterno. It was not popular and it seemed wrong how they handled it, but when you are a legend and bigger than the entire school, the way Paterno was, you have an obligation to do the right thing and not cover your own butt or that of one of your friends. It seems like Penn State may not yet have hit rock bottom.

Slowly more information is being leaked and the signs indicate that Joe Paterno knew more about the Sandusky crimes and cover up than he led on. Former Penn State President Graham Spanier, Gary Schultz and former athletic director Tim Curley appear to have lost their decency and thought it was a better idea to cover up what Sandusky was doing as opposed to blow the whistle and stop that disgusting monster from hurting young boys.

Why the cover up? Its a reasonable question. It certainly appears that Penn State feared what would happen to their precious reputation if they did the right thing and did the legal thing, which was report Sandusky’s actions to child welfare. Instead of stopping Sandusky, a detailed plan was put in place toprotect to reputation of Penn State which is now much lower then it ever would have been had Joe Pa and crew, come clean.

I think over the next several months, more emails, more details and more information will show that Penn State covered a lot of information about Sandusky and were doing everything in their power to make sure the information never came to light. What I do not understand is why? Why cover this up? What do you gain? Did these people really think Paterno’s reputation or legacy would have been ruined had he blew the whistle on Sandusky? If anything he would have looked like a bigger hero for stopping this sick twisted maniac that Sandusky is.

Alas it was not meant to be. Joe Paterno left Penn State disgraced. Regardless of what the fans wanted, he was disgraced and his legacy tarnished because he chose to turn a deaf ear and blind eye to his comrade, Sandusky. The question left is how much worse will his legacy be tarnished?